My Bonny
by Alexa Twitch
Summary: Ben's sister, Anne, joins the legendary adventure. RileyOC I claim no ownership of NT or any characters!
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

"Benny!" Young Anne Gates whispered, motioning him over.

"What is it, Annie?"

"A book."

The two children peered at the book. A cough alerted them of someone's presence.

"Grandpa!" they said together.

"You're not supposed to be up here."

"I wanna know, Grandpa." Anne said holding up the book

It was the first time they heard the story of the Templar Treasure. And it wouldn't be the last.

"Wow…" Anne breathed.

"Who's Charlotte?" Ben asked.

"Oh. Not even Charles Carroll knew that."

"Grandpa?" Anne began. "Are we knights?"

"Do you wanna be?" he asked amused.

The two children nodded.

"Benjamin Franklin Gates and Anne Bonny Gates, do you so swear to protect the secrets of the Knights Templar?"

The two siblings looked at each other and grinned.

"We _so_ swear."


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

Anne glanced around the airport and sighed. _'After 5 years he manages to talk me into seeing him in what… 5 minutes?' _Anne spotted him first. He looked exactly as she remembered him, just 5 years older. Unlike Ben, she was on the short side and a little chubby. Her hair was the same brown color but much longer. Her eyes were a clear blue, like her mother's.

"Ben!" she called.

"Anne?" he turned just in time to catch the blurred figure rushing to hug him. "Same old Anne!" he laughed leaning back to look at the girl wrapped around him.

"Old? Look who's talking! At least you can still hold me up." Anne unwrapped herself and dropped to the ground.

"Anne… you remember-"

"Hey Ian." She said. That was what she had been afraid of…

"Hey Anne."

"And that's Riley." Ben said pointing, blatantly ignoring the awkwardness between Ian and his sister.

"Nice to meet you." He said, shaking her hand.

"Same here. Well as nice as it is just standing around an airport, I'm starved. So if we could move this reunion elsewhere. Preferably an elsewhere with food. Like a-"

"Good slice of cherry pie." Ben finished. "You got your stuff?"

"Sure do." She leaned down to grab her bags only to have one taken out of her hands. Looking up, she saw Ian smiling at her. "I could have gotten that."

"I know."

Sighing, Anne grabbed her other bag and headed out towards the car.

* * *

The four people slid into the booth at Chili's, Ben and Riley on one side, Anne and Ian on the other.

"So why exactly am I here Ben?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"I mean, you didn't just up and decide to have a family reunion just because I called. There's always a reason with you."

"So untrusting." Ian commented.

"You would know." She said carelessly. Though the comment would usually deter a guy, things were different with Ian, who grinned.

"Well… Riley here has a way to track down something we've been looking for."

"Your sanity?" she asked arching an eyebrow.

"The Charlotte."

Anne choked on her Dr. Pepper.

"_The_ Charlotte? It's a ship?"

"Yes."

"Wow…Tell me more." She said leaning forward. As Ben was filling her in, Ian's hand "casually" found her knee, making her jump.

"Anne?" Ben asked.

"Um, I'll be right back." Anne said, jumping up and heading for the bathroom.

Ian rounded the corner a minute or two after her. She glared at him coldly.

"I told you. It's over."

"Yeah. We agreed that last time. And the time before that."

"Yeah well I mean it this time. So best behavior."

"What don't want your brother to find out about you and me?"

"He knows about you and me. He just may not know all the details." She looked up at him half pleading. "Please Ian. It's really over."

"Whatever you say, Anne." He replied. Anne left first, sitting back at the table with a smile.

"So… when do we leave?"

* * *

Anne lounged on the guest bed in Ben's flat. Riley had gone back to his nearby apartment and Ian had opted for the couch, his own house being in Pennsylvania. A knock on the door dragged her eyes from her book.

"Come in." she called, softly.

"Still the book worm I see." Ian said grinning.

"What are you doing here Ian?" she said.

"Just wanted to give you something." He said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What it is?"

"Gloves. It gets pretty cold in the Arctic."

"Speaking of which, we have an early morning tomorrow so if you could-" She was cut off my Ian's lips.

Ian could be most effectively described as a tornado. Too close and you get sucked in. And no matter how hard she tried, she always did.

* * *

"Wake up." Anne said, shaking Ian awake. Water from her wet hair dripped all over his face.

"What time is it?"

"Three. Ben won't be up for another hour."

"Since when are you an early riser?"

"Since today now get up."

Ian consented but placed a kiss on her lips first. Anne dressed quickly and packed her arctic gear. She paused over the gloves, comparing the new ones with hers. She tossed the new ones into the corner with an angry grunt.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

"Are we getting closer?" Ian asked from the passenger's seat of the land rover.

"Assuming Ben's theory is correct and my tracking model's accurate, we should be getting very close. But don't go by me. I broke a shoelace this morning." Ben and Ian looked at him confused.

"It's a bad omen." He clarified.

"Should we turn around and go home?" Ian asked.

"Or we could pull over and throw him out here." Ben said, grinning.

"There'd be more room in the backseat…" Anne pretended to muse.

"Ha ha." Riley said sarcastically as his computer beeped.

"We're here?" Anne asked, opening the door.

Powell, Ian's friend, came to stand next to her and Riley.

"This is a waste of time. How would a ship wind up way out here?"

"Well, I'm no expert, but it could be that the hydrothermic properties of this region produced hurricane force ice storms that caused the ocean to freeze, then melt, then refreeze, resulting in a semi-solid migrating land mass that would land a ship right about here."

"I only understood about half of that." Anne said following Riley, both leaving Powell confused. Riley laughed.

"Not the science-y type huh?"

"More the history type."

"You sure are Ben's sister then."

"I found something!" Ben shouted.

* * *

Anne stood on the ship with reverence. This was what generations of her family had been looking for and she was actually here to see it.

"Feel good to be on a real ship?" Ben asked.

"You know it! Just wish I could have been sailing it."

"You like to sail?" Riley asked. Ben and Anne exchanged glances and laughed. "What?"

"You didn't tell him?" Anne asked. She turned to Riley. "My full name is Anne Bonny Gates. My mom gave me the name."

"I found the way in!" Ian called.

They made their way inside the ship, careful of splintered wood and ice patches. Riley looked closer at a hammock and freaked out at the sight of a dead body.

"You handled that well." Ben remarked. Anne covered the dead man back up as Riley stumbled to his feet.

"It's the cargo hold." Ben said as they entered the room.

"Maybe it's in the barrels?" Riley suggested.

"Gunpowder." Anne said, not even looking.

"Good guess." Ian remarked, sifting through the stuff.

"Not really. Look." She pointed out a number of cannons. "Powder magazine. And you really shouldn't touch that stuff."

"Why would the captain be guarding this barrel?" Ben asked himself.

"Whatcha got?" Anne asked.

"It's a pipe."

"Is it a billion dollar pipe?"

"It's a meerschaum pipe. It's beautiful." Ian said.

"Look at the intricacy of the scroll work on the stem."

"Interesting…"

"Is it a million dollar pipe?"

"No. It's a clue. We are one step closer to the treasure."

"I thought you said the treasure was on The Charlotte."

"No. He said it could be on The Charlotte." Anne snapped.

"Don't break it!" Riley said as Ben removed the end. Ben took a knife and carefully cut his thumb and spread the blood on the stem. Rolling it out on the sheet of paper, he read the clue.

"The legend writ,

The stain affected,

The key in Silence, undetected.

55 in iron pen.

Mr. Matlack can't offend."

"It's a riddle." Anne said.

"I need to think. The legend writ, the stain affected. What legend? There is the legend of the Templar treasure; the stain affects the legend. The key in Silence undetected. Wait. The legend and the key... Now there's something. A map. Maps have legends, maps have keys. It's a map, an invisible map."

"Wait a minute. What do you mean invisible? An invisible map?" asked Ian, confused.

"The stain affected could refer to a dye or a reagent used to bring about a certain result, combined with the key in silence undetected. The implication is to make what was undetectable, detectable. Unless the key in silence could be…"

"Prison." Shaw said suddenly.

"Albuquerque. See, I can do it too. Snorkel." Riley replied. Anne snorted.

"It's where the map is. Like you said, 55 in iron pen. Iron pen is a prison."

"Or, it could be since the primary writing medium of the time was iron gall ink, the pen is… just a pen. Then why not say a pen, why say iron pen?"

"Because it's a prison." He muttered.

"Wait, iron pen. The ink does not describe the pen, it describes what was penned." Anne said.

"Right. It was iron, it was firm. It was mineral." Ben picked up.

"It was mineral?"

"No, no, no, no. It was firm, it was adamant, it was resolved. It was resolved. Mr. Matlack can't offend…"

"Timothy Matlack was the official scribe of the Continental Congress. Calligrapher, not writer." Anne remembered. Ben picked up.

"And to make sure he could not offend the map, it was put on the back of a resolution that he transcribed, a resolution that 55 men signed. The Declaration of Independence."

"Wow…" Anne breathed.

"Come on. There's no invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence."

"Clever, really. A document of that importance would ensure the map's survival. And you said several masons signed it, yeah?' Ian asked.

"Yeah, nine for sure." Ben replied.

"We'll have to arrange a way to examine it."

"We can't just go and run chemicals tests on the Declaration." Anne said.

"She's right."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"I don't know!"

"We could borrow it."

"Steal it?" Anne asked, shocked he would even suggest such a thing.

"I don't think so." Ben said.

"Ben, the treasure of Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures."

"I didn't know that, really?" he said sarcastically.

"Look, Ben, we all have our areas of expertise. You don't think mine is limited to writing checks, do you? I've arranged a number of operations of… questionable legality."

"What?" Anne asked. Ian looked over at her.

"I would take his word for it if I were you." Shaw agreed.

"So all those times… business and such. Lies, right?" Anne asked. "What, pray tell were you really doing?"

"Anne. I'm not doing this right now."

"Oh so NOW you're gonna act like its over." Anne said angrily.

"It's not over." Ian said.

"Yeah, you made that pretty clear last night." She snapped and Ian cringed.

"Anne-"

"No. I'm not going to let you talk your way out of this and I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence."

"Me either." Ben said, standing beside his sister.

"I can see from this point on, all you're going to be is a hindrance." Ian said as Shaw drew his gun.

"What are you going to do? You going to shoot me Shaw? Well you can't shoot. There's more to the riddle. Information you don't have, I do. I'm the only one who can figure it out, you know that."

"You're bluffing."

"We play poker together, Ian. You know I can't bluff."

"Tell me what I need to know," Ian said, as Shaw pointed the gun at Riley. "Or I'll shoot your friend."

"Hey." He protested weakly. Ben grabbed a flare and lit it, startling Ian.

"Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up."

"Ben…" Anne said.

"Tell me what I need to know."

"You need to know… if Shaw can catch!" He threw the flare. Anne closed her eyes, waiting to go up in flames, hoping it would be quick.

"Nice try, though, Ben." She heard. She opened her eyes just as Ian's arm caught fire.

"I told you you shouldn't touch gunpowder!" Anne shouted stumbling back.

"Anne!" Ian yelled, motioning for her to follow him.

Shaking her head she ran back over to Ben, who was looking for something in the snow.

"What's this?" Riley asked.

"Smuggler's hold. Get in!" Ben shouted. "Follow me!"

They raced through the burning tunnel and Ben slammed the door, diving in the room.

The explosion.

They pushed out of the wreckage. Anne glared after the retreating land rovers.

"YOU LOUSY BRIT!" she shouted.

"There's an Inuit village about 9 miles east of here. You guys okay?"

"Yeah." Riley said.

Anne nodded, still not looking at Ben.

"Hey." Ben said taking Anne by the shoulders. "I don't care."

"Thanks." She said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

"So that's a no for Homeland Security and the FBI… where to next?" Anne asked as they left the building.

"Is it really so hard to believe that someone's going to steal the Declaration of Independence?"

"The FBI gets 10,000 tips a week. They aren't going to worry about something they're sure is safe."

"Anyone who can do anything is going to think we're crazy. And anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't going to want to help."

"What's one step short of crazy?" Anne asked.

"Obsessed?"

"Passionate." Ben answered.

"That's us."

* * *

"Dr. Chase will see you now, Mr. Brown." The secretary said. 

"Mr. Brown?" Riley asked.

"Our family name doesn't get a lot of respect in the academic community." Anne answered for Ben.

"So you're being kept down the man." They filed into the office where a pretty blonde sat behind the desk. "Very cute man."

"Wow." Anne muttered. Riley shot her a withering look.

"Good Afternoon. I'm Abigail Chase."

"Paul Brown." Ben said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Bill." Riley said.

"Nice to meet you Bill." She said skeptically.

"Lynn Brown. His sister." She clarified. Better to not have them thinking they were married.

"How can I help you?" Abigail asked.

"Your accent? Pennsylvania Dutch?" Ben asked.

"Saxony-German."

"You're not American?" Riley asked. Anne hit Riley on the arm and gave him a look.

"I am an American, I just wasn't born here. Please don't touch that."

"Sorry. Neat collection. George Washington campaign buttons. You're missing the 1789 inaugural though. I found one once."

"That's very fortunate for you." She said, though in a slightly condescending tone. "Now, you told my assistant this was an urgent matter."

"Yes ma'am. Well, I am going to get right to the point. Someone's going to steal the Declaration of Independence."

"It's true." Riley added.

"Yep." Anne agreed.

"I think I better put you three in touch with the FBI…" Abigail grabbed her phone.

"We've already been to the FBI." Anne said.

"And…"

"They assured us that the Declaration could not possibly be stolen."

"They're right."

"We're less certain." Anne said. This woman was bugging her.

"However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for certain if it were in any danger." Ben said.

"And what do you think you are going to find?"

"We believe there is an… encryption on the back."

"An encryption of what?" Anne could tell this woman wasn't going to be any help.

"Um… a cartograph."

"A map?"

"Yes ma'am."

"A map of what?"

"The location of hidden items of…" Ben cleared his throat. "… historic and intrinsic value."

"A treasure map?"

"That's where we lost the FBI." Riley said.

"You're treasure hunters, aren't you?" Abigail asked.

"We're more like treasure protectors." Ben said.

"And it's becoming more difficult by the hour." Anne added.

"Mr. Brown, I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence, and I promise you the only thing there is a notation that reads 'original Declaration of Independence dated…"

"July 4th 1776." Anne and Ben finished.

"Yes ma'am." Ben added to be polite.

"But no map." Abigail concluded. Anne looked at Ben and shrugged.

"It's invisible."

"Oh…"

"And that's where we lost the Dept. of Homeland Security." Riley said.

"What led you to assume there's this invisible map?"

"We found an engraving on the stem of a 200-year-old pipe." Ben said.

"Owned by Freemasons." Riley said matter-of-factly.

"May I see it?"

"We don't actually have it." Anne replied.

Abigail leaned in conspiratorially.

"Did Bigfoot take it?"

"It was nice meeting you." Ben said, losing all tolerance of this woman.

"Nice meeting you too."

"You know that really is a nice collection. Must've taken you a long time to hunt down all that history." Ben commented.

"If it's any consolation, you had me convinced." Riley said as they neared the Declaration.

"It's not." Ben snapped.

"I was thinking… what if we plaster the story all over the internet. It's not like we have our reputations to worry about…"

"Erm… I do!" Anne said. Turning around she saw Ben in front of the Declaration.

"Ben?" she asked softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"180 years of searching and I'm 3 feet away. Of all the ideas that became the United States, there's one line here that's at the heart of all the others. 'But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, its is their duty, to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security.' People don't talk that way anymore."

"Yeah… I have no idea what you just said." Riley said.

"It means…" Anne said, looking up at Riley. "That those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action."

"I'm gonna steal it." Ben said suddenly.

"What?" Riley asked.

"I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence." He said walking off.

"Um… Ben…" Riley and Anne said, following him.

* * *

"This is huge. Prison… huge. You will go to prison, you know that, right?" Riley asked as they sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 

"Yeah, probably."

"That would… bother most people." Riley stated.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we aren't most people."

"Ben, for god's sake, it's like… It's like stealing a national monument. It's like stealing him." Riley pointed at Lincoln. "It can't be done. And it shouldn't be done but it _can't_ be done. Let me prove it to you." Riley said.

* * *

"Okay, Gates siblings, pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over 20 million books. And they're all saying the same thing. Listen to Riley." Riley began. 

"I'm listening. Not hearing anything interesting but I'm listening." Anne commented.

"What we have here is an entire layout of the Archives. We've got builder's blueprints, construction orders, phone bills, water and sewage. It's all here. Now, when the Declaration is on display, it's surrounded by guards… and video monitors… and little families from Iowa… and little kids on their 8th grade field trips. And beneath and inch of bullet-proof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors that go off if someone gets too close with a high fever. When it's not on display, it is lowered into a 4 foot thick, concrete, steel plated vault that happens to be equipped with an electric combination lock and biometric access and denial systems."

"Amazing." Anne said cocking an eyebrow.

"Did you know Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton thread filament for the incandescent light bulb? He said 'I didn't fail, I just found 2,000 ways not to make a light bulb.' But he only needed one way to make it work." Ben handed Riley a book. "The preservation room. Enjoy, go ahead. Do you know what the preservation room is for?"

"Delicious jams and jellies?" Riley guessed.

"Wrong preservation." Anne laughed.

"That's where they clean, maintain, and repair all the documents and storage housings when they aren't on display or in the vault. Now when the case needs work…"

"They take it to the preservation room." Anne finished.

"The best time for us, or Ian, to steal it would be during the Gala this weekend, when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs. But we'll make our way to the preservation room where there's much less security." Ben concluded. Riley thumbed through the book, looking for some glitch in Ben's plan.

"Huh…well if Ian…Preservation room… The gala… this might be possible." Riley said stunned.

"It might."


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Anne asked, sitting back in the van.

"Yeah. I've got it covered. You just stay here and help Riley watch the monitors."

"Joy. You get to do all the fun stuff." She sulked but smiled at him and wished him luck.

"Ben are you sure we should do th-" Ben slammed the door in Riley's face.

"I hate it when he does that…" Anne laughed, putting on her headset. She fiddled with a bag of extra clothes.

"Did you really need to bring that?" Riley asked.

"Um… yeah. It's always good to have extra clothes."

"_Can you hear me?"_ Ben asked.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Same here, Benny boy."

"_Told you not to call me that!"_

"Ha…Benny boy."

"_Shut up Riley."_

"Where are you now, Ben?"

"I'm in the bathroom."

"How do you look?" Anne asked.

"Not bad."

"Mazel tov." Riley complimented.

"_For you."_ They heard Ben say after a minute or two of silence.

"_Oh, Mr. Brown."_

"_Dr. Chase."_

"_What are you doing here?"_

"Is that that hot girl? How does she look?"

"Nice Riley."

"Well she is hot. Not as hot as you of course but- did I just say that out loud?"

Anne giggled and covered her mouth.

"_Yes, thank you. You know, I really couldn't accept something like that normally, but... I really want it."_ They heard Abigail laugh.

"_Well, you needed it."_ Ben agreed.

"Come on, Romeo, get outta there."

"_Hi. Here you go."_ A new voice said.

"Who's the stiff?" Riley asked.

"_Hi there."_ Ben said.

"_Oh, Doctor Herbert. This is Mr. Brown."_

"_A toast, yeah?"_

"Oy…" Anne said.

"What?"

"He's not so good at toasts."

"_To high treason."_

"See?"

"_That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and - Oh! Oh, my personal favorite, had their entrails cut out and _burned_! So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right… what they knew was right. Ahh, well, good night."_

"I rest my case." Anne said. Riley laughed.

"You're pretty cool, you know that?"

"Thanks." She said, looking up at him.

Riley leaned down closer to her. He wasn't bad looking, kinda cute really. _Wow…he's got pretty eyes._

"_I'm in the elevator."_ Ben said.

"That's great Ben." Anne said, slightly annoyed.

"OK, I'm going to turn of the surveillance camera. Ready? In 5…4…3… Ben Gates, you are now the invisible man. Give me the letters of her password. Hit me." Riley said.

"_A…E…F…G…L…O…R…V…Y."_

"Anagrams being listed. Top results, a glove fry, a very golf, fargo levy, gravy floe, valey frog…"

"Valley Forge." _"Valley Forge."_ Anne and Ben said simultaneously.

"Valley For- I don't have that on my computer."

"That's because it's a computer."

"_We're in."_

"Ben pick it up." Riley urged.

"Calm down Riley. It's under control."

The feed went out.

"I stand corrected."

"I lost my feed. I lost my feed, Ben. I don't know where anyone is. I have noth- Ben, I have nothing. Get out of there. Get out of there now."

"Ben listen to him for once."

"_I'm taking the whole thing. I'll get it out in the elevator."_

"What are you talking… Is it heavy?" Riley asked.

Anne heard gunshots over the headset.

"Ben?!"

"Who's shooting? Ben, you still there? Ben?!"

"_I'm in the elevator. Ian's here."_

"Stop sounding calm and get out of there!" Anne nearly shouted.

"_Stop yelling in my ear."_

"Sorry."

"Let's get ready for Ben." Riley said. Anne took off her headset and climbed into the passenger's seat, leaning back.

"Start the van." Ben said. Riley turned the car on.

"Uh Ben… the mean declaration lady's behind you." Riley said.

"Hey." Abigail called.

"Oh, it's you." Ben said casually.

"Ben…" Anne muttered angrily.

"Mr. Brown, what's going on? What's that?"

"A souvenir." Ben replied.

"Really?" Abigail didn't sound convinced.

That's when the security alarms went off.

"Oh my god…" Riley and Anne groaned.

"Oh my god, you did not… Give me that!" Abigail snatched the Declaration from Ben.

"Take it, it's yours."

"Security!" Abigail shouted.

"Go!"

"What? We can't just let her go!" Riley objected.

"We can, go!" Ben said. Then he spotted the other van. "Wait, hold it. Hold it. Bad, bad, bad, bad!" Ben tried to get out of the van but someone started shooting.

"That scum!" Riley exclaimed.

"Ben!" Anne shouted. "Ah!" she exclaimed as pain radiated up her arm.

"Go! Go!" Ben shouted jumping back in the van. Riley took off after the other van.

"Once we catch them, what do we do?" Riley asked.

"I'm working on it!" Ben shouted.

"Right turn, right turn." Riley turned sharply.

"Construction zone." Anne said.

"Skidding, skidding." Riley muttered. Anne looked over and saw the door swinging freely, with Abigail clinging to the top.

"Oh no." Ben said.

"Holy lord." Riley muttered.

"Grab her Ben!" Anne shouted.

"I'm trying!" he called back.

Seconds later, Dr. Chase and Ben were safely in the back of the van.

"You alright?" Ben asked.

"No, those - those lunatics..."

"You're not hurt are you?"

"You're all lunatics!"

"You hungry?"

"What?"

"Are you alright?" Ben repeated.

"Still a little on edge from being shot at, but I'll be okay, thanks for asking." Riley said. "You're bleeding."

"What? Oh." Blood was welling up under Anne's sleeve.

"You okay?" Ben asked.

"Yeah I think I got grazed." She said taking off her sweatshirt and holding it to the wound.

"Well, I'm not alright! Those men have the Declaration of Independence!" Abigail cried. Ben held up another case.

"They don't have it." Showing Abigail the document. "See? okay? Now, could you please stop shouting?"

"Give me that!" she snapped.

"You're still shouting, and it's really starting to annoy. You'd do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance." Ben said smoothly. Anne laughed.

"If this is the _real_ one, what did _they_ get?" Abigail asked.

"Souvenir. I thought it might be a good idea to have a duplicate. Turned out I was right. I had to pay for both the souvenir and the real one, so you owe 35 dollars, plus tax." Ben said grinning.

"Genius." Riley laughed.

"Who were those men?" Abigail asked.

"Just the guys we warned you were going to try to steal the Declaration." Anne snapped.

"And you didn't believe us!" Riley agreed.

"We did the only thing we could do to keep it safe."

"Verdammt! Give me that!"

"You know something? You're shouting again."

"Pretty sure she was swearing too." Riley said.

"Well, we prolly deserve _that_." Anne laughed. "So are we gonna go check out that map now?"

"There is not an invisible treasure map on the Declaration of Independence!" Abigail cried.

"And there is no chance anyone could steal this," he held up the tube. "either. I level with you 100 percent. Everything I told you was the truth."

"I want that document, Mr. Brown!" Abigail snarled.

"OK, my name's not Brown, it's Gates. I level with you 98 percent." Ben admitted.

"Wait a minute, did you just say Gates?" Abigail asked. Anne nodded. "Gates? You're that family with the conspiracy with about the founding fathers."

"It's not a conspiracy theory." Anne said.

"Per se." Riley muttered.

"Shut up."

"I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane!"

"I resent that!" Anne muttered.

"How do you exactly plan to find this invisible map?" Abigail asked.

"Well… we might need to run some tests on it." Ben began.

"You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence in the back of a moving van." Abigail protested.

"We have a clean room environment all set up: EDS suits, a particulate air filtration system, the whole shebang." Riley said.

"We can't go back there." Ben replied nervously, glancing at Anne.

"What? Why not?" Anne asked.

"I paid for the Declaration with a credit card. I didn't have enough cash…" Ben began.

"WHAT?!" Anne shrieked.

"A credit card slip? Dude, we're on the grid! They're going to have your records from forever. They're going to have my records for forever!" Riley yelled.

"Not to mention they'll be all over me AND Dad!"

"I know, I know. It's only a matter of minutes before the FBI shows up at my front door… We need those letters." Ben said.

"What letters?" Abigail asked.

"You know what, get off the road, take a right." Ben said.

"What letters?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6**

"You have the original Silence Dogood letters?" Abigail asked as Ben paced in front of the van.

"They're digital scans, now be quiet."

"Where did you get the scans?"

"Because I know the man who has the originals, now shush."

"Why do you need them?"

"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?"

"Apparently not." Anne said.

"Look, I will let you hold this if you promise to _shut up_, please!"

"Ben, you know what you have to do." Riley said.

"I know what to do. I'm just trying to think anything else we could do." Ben replied.

"Other plans, other plans are good." Anne agreed.

"Not to be a nudge, but do know how many people we have after us? We probably have our satellite by now. It took all of 2 seconds for you to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence." Riley pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn't think I'd have to personally have to tell my dad about it!" Ben shouted. Abigail took the opportunity to start running. "Hey, not cool. Not cool!" Ben caught her.

"Let me go!" Abigail cried. Ben took the Declaration.

"You're let go. Now shoo."

"I'm not going. Not without the Declaration."

"Well, you're not going with the Declaration."

"Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going." Abigail said.

"Just take her. She'll leave when she's had enough." Anne smirked at Abigail.

* * *

They pulled up at the eldest Gates' house.

"Park a couple blocks away." Ben ordered.

"How long do think we got?" Riley asked.

"Give them a couple hours, at least. I hope."

"Ugh. I haven't seen Dad in like two years. Now I show up at the door a bleeding felon."

"How's your arm?" Ben asked.

"Fine. Can you grab my change of clothes?" she turned to Riley. "Told you it was smart to bring them."

"What do we do about her? I got some duct tape in the back…" Riley said.. Anne smacked him in the arm.

"Ow."

"No, that won't be necessary. She won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble?"

"I promise."

"See? She's curious." Ben smiled.

"Ring the doorbell." Anne said.

"You."

"You pulled me into this mess!"

"You haven't seen him!"

"You got me shot!"

"Fine." Ben rang the doorbell. Their dad answered looking tired and older that Anne remembered. "Dad." Ben said awkwardly.

"Where's the party?"

"Well…I'm in a little trouble."

"Is she pregnant?" he asked, looking at Abigail. Anne was hiding her arm behind Riley.

"If she is would you leave the mother of your grandchild standing out in the cold?"

"I look pregnant?" Abigail asked. Riley shook his head.

"Come in." he said. As they filed in, Mr. Gate caught sight of her. "Anne! What happened?"

"I'm fine Dad."

"Weren't you watching her?" he asked Ben.

"Dad! It wasn't Ben's fault! I ran into a car door."

"The first aid's in the bathroom."

Anne changed into a black tank top and came back to the living room with gauze and antibiotic, to see Riley eating pizza on the couch and Ben arguing with their father.

"Of course, I know. I'm the family kook. I have a house, a job, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. What do you have? Him?" He pointed at Riley.

"He's got me, Dad." Anne said.

"Look, if you just give us the letters we're gone." Ben interrupted, not wanting Anne to get in trouble.

"You disappoint me Ben."

"Well, maybe that's the real Gates family legacy. Sons who disappoint their fathers."

"Get out. Take your troubles with you." Their dad snapped.

"Dad!" Anne said, incredulously.

"I found the Charlotte."

"The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?" their father asked, eyes lighting up.

"Yeah. She was beautiful. It was amazing dad."

"And the treasure?"

"No, no, but we found another clue, which lead us here…" Ben began.

"And that will lead to another clue, and that's all you'll ever find is another clue. Don't you get it Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend said the treasure was buried to keep it from the British. But what really happened was, the legend was invented to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth."

"I refuse to believe that." Ben said.

"Me too." Anne said.

"You can believe what you want. You're a grown people. What am I doing? Do what you want, kids. Do what you want."

"He can't be right." Anne murmured.

"Well, I can think of a way we can find out. And we can find out right now."


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

"Looks like animal skin. How old is it?"

"At least 200 years." Ben answered.

"Really? You sure?"

"Pretty darn."

"Now, if this thing is invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Riley asked.

"Throw it in the oven." Mr. Gates said.

"Yeah let's not." Anne said.

"Higher sulfate inks can only be brought out with heat." He stated.

"But this…"

"Is very old. We can't risk compromising the map." Ben finished.

"You need a reagent."

"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?" Ben told him. His father walked into the living room.

"I'm fine."

"Anne go get your arm cleaned up."

"I wanna see this first."

"Anne." he said sternly.

"Ben." She mocked.

"Fine. So…" he grabbed a lemon slice and held it over the paper. Abigail grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"You can't do that."

"But it has to be done."

"Then somebody trained to handle antique documents is gonna do it."

"Okay." Ben consented.

"Now, if there is an invisible message, it will probably be marked by a symbol in the upper right hand corner." Abigail told nobody in particular.

"That's right." Ben said. Anne could tell that he was impressed.

"I am so getting fired for this." Abigail murmured.

Nothing.

"I told you." Their father said from the doorway. "You need heat." Ben and Abigail leaned towards the paper and breathed. A Templar symbol appeared in the corner.

"Wow…" Anne breathed.

"We need more juice."

"We need more heat."

Ben and Abigail left the room.

"Get your cut cleaned!" Ben yelled from the kitchen.

Anne looked over at Riley and sighed.

"Can you help me?"

* * *

"It doesn't look like a map." Riley commented from the other side of the table. As Ben and Abigail worked on the map, he worked on patching up Anne's arm. But being preoccupied by the map, he couldn't see that Anne was blushing at the contact. "Are those latitudes and longitudes?" Riley asked.

"We need the Silence Dogood letters." Ben said.

"That's the key?" Abigail asked.

"The key in Silence undetected. Dad, can we have the letters now?" Ben asked.

"Will someone please explain to me what these magic numbers are?" Riley asked, exasperated.

"It's an Ottendorf cipher." Anne said.

"Right."

"Okay." Riley paused. "What's an Ottendorf cipher?"

"Each of these numbers corresponds to a word in the key." Anne began.

"In this case the Silence Dogood letters. So, it's like that page number of the key text, the line on the page, and the letter in that line. So Dad, where are the letters?" Ben asked.

"You know, it's just by sheer happenstance that his grandfather…" Mr. Gates said.

"Dad." Ben said firmly.

"…even found the letters. They were in an antique desk."

"Dad, where are the letters?" Anne asked.

"I don't have them."

"What?" She asked calmly.

"I don't have them."

"Where are they?" Ben asked.

"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia."

"Time to go." Ben said.

"After all this time, nobody knew it was on the back." Abigail whispered.

"The back of what?"

"No!" Ben and Anne cried as he reached for the Declaration.

"Oh my god. Oh my god!"

"I know." Ben groaned.

"Oh my god! What have you done? This is…This is…"

"I know!" Anne snapped.

"This is the Declaration of Independence." He groaned.

"And it's very delicate." Abigail told him, taking the document away from him.

"You stole it?" He asked harshly.

"Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. It was necessary. You saw the cipher." Ben protested.

"And that will lead to another clue. And that will lead to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find. There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life, and now you've destroyed yours AND your sister's! And you pulled me into this."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Ben replied.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 8**

Anne lay in the back of her father's car, her head on Riley's lap.

"Your dad's got a sweet ride." Riley mumbled, his eyes shut.

"I know right." She grumbled back.

"I think we should change clothes. We look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?" Ben asked.

"Ya think?"

"Go to sleep, Annie."

"I'm trying."

"I'd like to go shopping too, but we have no money." Riley interjected, sleepily.

"Here, I took this from his house. He usually tucks a few hundred dollars between the pages."

"Ha. You grabbed Dad's stash."

"_Common Sense_. How appropriate." Abigail said.

"When are we going to get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird." Riley groaned. "And why do I have to be the pillow?"

"Because."

"Oh alright."

* * *

Anne lay on her back on the wall across from the Franklin Institute, staring up at the sky. Riley was sitting at her feet working on the puzzle.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Last night, when you said I was hot… did you mean it?"

"Yeah…" she could hear the blush in his voice.

"Why?"

"Why did I mean it?"

"Why did you say it? I mean I'm not pretty-"

"What? Of course you are. You're perfect!"

Anne swung around so she was sitting next to him.

"You mean that?"

"Yeah. I do."

Anne tilted her head to the side and leaned closer. She saw Riley's eye flick down to her lips and back up to her eyes.

"Ahem." She heard. Turning she saw the little boy grinning. Sighing, she smiled.

"Whatcha get kid?"

"S-S-A-N-D." Riley wrote down the letters. "No 'N.'"

"That is an 'N.'"

"Doesn't look like an 'N.'"

"I must agree with our little friend. It looks more like an 'R.'"

"Ok, here. One more dollar. Got get the last four letters. Go get 'em, chief."

"What so we have now?" Anne asked.

"'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and…' Pass and what?"

"Pass and…"

"Pass and Stow!" they said together, jumping up.

"Yes!" Anne said, throwing her arms around Riley and kissing him. She pulled back shocked. "Wow…"

"You say that a lot." He said smirking.

"Only when I'm impressed."

* * *

Mean while, Ben and Abigail were finding each other's company enjoyable.

"So what's the deal with you and your sister? Are you a treasure hunting team?"

"Not really. We haven't seen each other in 5 years."

"Why?"

"Ian."

"What?"

"Ian and I were close friends and they kinda had a relationship… She was trying to avoid him."

"Were you and her close as kids?"

"Yeah. We used to play knights and when our father told us to stop we would say. 'Templar Knights never stop looking.'" He got a wistful look on his face. "I doubt she even remembers that."

"Ben! Ben!" they heard. "We figured it out!" Anne said excitedly.

"Oh we got it. 'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow.' Now Pass and Stow, referring to…

"The Liberty Bell." Ben and Abigail interrupted.

"Why do you have to do that?" He complained.

"Now what I was thinking was 'The vision to see the treasured past' must refer to a way to read the map." Anne said.

"I thought the cipher was the map." Riley said.

"No, the cipher was the way to find the way to read the map." Ben explained.

"The way to read the map comes as the timely shadow passes in front of the Liberty Bell." Abigail said, catching on.

"Crosses in front of the house of the Liberty Bell. Independence Hall." Ben added.

"Timely shadow. It must be a specific time." Anne mused.

"What time?" Riley asked.

"What time?" Ben repeated. Suddenly it hit him and he grinned at Abigail. "You're going to love this. Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred dollar bills I paid you with?" He asked the clerk.

"No."

"Well, I have this diver's watch, it's called a submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You could use it as collateral."

"Whatever." She took the watch.

"On the back of a hundred dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall, based on a painting done in the 1780's…."

"Hello?" The clerk handed him the bill.

"Thank you." he took the bill. "And the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin. It's wonderful. Hold this." He started to hand the Declaration to Abigail but stopped.

"I'm not going anywhere." She smiled.

"We need a magnifying glass." Anne said.

"If we look through this, we might be able to see the specific time." He said using his water bottle.

"What do you see?" Abigail asked.

"2:22." Ben read.

"What time is it now?" Anne asked.

"Almost 3." The store clerk answered.

"We missed it." Anne said, frustrated.

"No we didn't. We didn't miss it because…" Riley paused. "Wait you don't know this? I know something about history you don't know."

"Congratulations." Anne snarked.

"I'd be very excited to learn about it Riley."

"Hold on one second. Let me just… Just take in this moment."

"Riley?" Anne said.

"This is cool." Riley mused. "Is this how you feel all the time, except for now, of course…"

"Riley!" Abigail interjected.

"Alright." Riley snapped. "What I know is that daylight savings time wasn't established until World War 1. So if it's 3 PM now, in 1776, it would be 2 PM."

Ben grinned. "Riley you're a genius."

"Let's go." Abigail said. They started toward the steps.

"Do you know who the first person to suggest Daylight Savings time was?" Riley asked.

"Benjamin Franklin." They all replied.

Riley stomped in defeat.

* * *

They ditched the tour and ran up the restricted stairs.

"What's this?" Riley asked as they entered the tower.

"Centennial Bell. Replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876." Ben answered. They looked out at the shadow.

"There it is." Abigail whispered, amazed.

"Alright. I'll go down, and you three meet me in the signing room." Ben told them.

"3:22. My idea." Riley said.

"C'mon Genius." Anne laughed.

"Okay."

* * *

"What'd you score?" Riley asked Ben.

"It's some kind of ocular device." Ben held up the glasses. "The vision to see the treasured past? Let me take this." He took the document case as Riley took the glasses.

"They're like… Early American x-ray specs." Riley said softly.

"Look more like 3D glasses to me." Anne commented.

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these." Abigail said.

"Uh, I think he invented these."

"What do we do with them?" Riley asked. Anne softly smacked Riley upside the head.

"What do you think we do with them?" she asked.

"We look through them." Ben said.

"Help me." Abigail unrolled the Declaration. Ben sighed.

"What?" Riley asked.

"It's just that… the last time this was here, it was being signed." Ben said.

"Wow…" Anne whispered.

"Ben, there's another tour coming." Riley reminded him.

"Turn it over."

"What do you see?" Abigail asked.

"Is it a treasure map?" Riley asked.

"It says 'Heere at the Wall'. Spelled with two Es. Take a look." Ben put out the glasses. Abigail put them on.

"Wow."

"That's my line." Anne laughed. She took them next and looked.

"Wanna see Riley?"

"Heck yeah." He said, taking the glasses.

"Why can't they say got to this place, here's the treasure, spend it wisely?" Riley asked, exasperated.

"Because then it would have been found and we wouldn't have met."

"True."

"Oh no." Ben muttered. Through the window they could see Ian and his friends.

"How'd they find us?" Anne groaned.

"Ian has nearly unlimited resources. And he's smart." Ben stated, rolling up the Declaration.

"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted." Abigail said.

"Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, but we especially don't want them to have them both together." Ben stated.

"So what do we do?" Riley asked.

"We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up." Ben nodded.

"Good idea." Abigail agreed.

"I'll take this and those." Ben took the empty case and glasses. "You take that. Meet me at the car and call me if there are any problems."

"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley asked.

"Yeah." Ben nodded. "That'd be a big problem."

"And Riley?"

"Yeah."

"Watch out for your girlfriend, or I'll have to kill you." He cocked an eyebrow and left Anne and Riley openmouthed.

"Time to go." Abigail said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Part 9**

Anne, Abigail, and Riley took off running, seeing Shaw and Shippen behind them. Ducking into a market place, they split up again, Anne ducking behind a large magazine rack. Looking around, she couldn't see anything.

"Hey, doll." She heard. Turning, she saw Shippen.

"You wouldn't fire that in a market place, would you?" she asked weakly.

"You wanna find out?"

"No." she suddenly brought her knee up into his groin and left him sprawling on the floor.

"Riley!" she shouted.

"Anne, you okay?"

"Ran into some trouble, Shippen'll be down for a while."

"Good," Riley said hugging her. "I like being on the good side of Benjamin Franklin Gates."

"Let's go find Abi." Anne laughed.

The three ran from the market, almost knocking over thing in the process, and out towards the car. Anne noticed that Riley wasn't with them and looked back to see him stuck behind some businessmen. Abigail moved to avoid a bicycler and tripped, the Declaration tumbling from her grasp. Right into the busy street.

"No!" Anne shouted, running after it. She almost had it when Riley's arms went around her waist, pulling her back. She looked up to see the Declaration fine but in the hands of none other than Ian Howe. His face went dark when he saw Riley holding her. He opened his mouth to speak but then turned and walked off.

* * *

"Now what?" Anne asked as the rounded a corner towards the car. She was stopped by the sight of Ben being handcuffed. "BE-" she started to shout but Riley clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shh. We're no good to him in jail."

They retreated back behind the corner, Riley still holding onto Anne.

"Now what do we do?" Anne asked, leaning her head back on Riley.

"Riley do you know how to get in touch with Ian?" Abigail asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you?"

"Well yeah but-"

"Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Anne asked.

"This way!"

Anne and Riley glanced at each other.

"Where are we going?" Riley asked.

"That way." She replied.

* * *

Apparently 'That way' meant New York City, as Riley and Anne found out. They now sat in a café on Broadway, Riley being clever on his laptop and Abigail calling Shaw.

"Ben, please." She said as sweetly as anyone could talking to someone like Shaw. "Hi sweetie, how's your day going?"

Anne stifled a giggle and Abigail shot her a look.

"Turns out helping someone escape from FBI custody is a criminal act. He's the only criminal we knew. So we called him and made a deal."

Another pause.

"He's not getting within three feet of her Ben, we'll make sure of that."

Anne looked up at the phone rather than Abigail and smiled.

"Riley's over here doing something clever with a computer."

"I'm tracking him through the… Hey!" Riley repeated himself as Abigail pressed the phone to his ear. "I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it, so…" Abigail didn't let him finish.

"Haha… wow." Anne laughed.

"If Ian tries to double cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find Ian."

Pause.

"Right across the street from where we're hiding. At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."

Another pause.

"Simple. 'Heere at the Wall'. Wall Street and Broadway. Ben, there is a catch. We made Ian believe that he could have the treasure. It was the only way we could get this far."

"He's here." Riley said.

Anne looked up, happy to see Ben. Ben and Ian talked, traded, then Ian pointed to a car.

"What's going on?" Anne muttered. Ian left and Ben looked defeated. He motioned for them to come over.

"Anne," Ben began. "Don't worry but they've got Dad."

"W-what?"

"I've got everything under control so-"

"Obviously not!"

"Just calm down. Follow me."

* * *

"Daddy!" she called, hugging her father.

"I'm okay. You alright?"

"I'm fine Daddy." She hugged him again. They filled in a pew and waited while Ben and Ian talked. Ben motioned for them to come over. "What are we looking for?" Anne asked.

"Parkington Lane?"

"A street inside a Church?" Ian asked.

"No inside… beneath." Ben said.

"Basement." She said.

As they headed for the stair, their father stopped them

"Look. Cooperation only lasts as long as the status quo is unchanged. As soon as this guy gets to wherever this thing ends, he won't need you anymore. Or any of us."

"So we find a way to make sure the status quo changes in our favor." Anne said.

"How?" he asked. Anne glanced at her brother.

"I'm still working on it." Ben said.

"Well, I guess I better work on it too, then."

After a few minutes of searching, everyone heard Riley yell.

"I found it! Parkington Lane… It's a person!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Part 10**

Anne came into the room.

"Great job Riley!" Anne said, hugging him. She turned back just in time to see Ian's dark look.

"Parkington Lane." Ben read aloud. "He was a third degree master mason of the blue light…Hey!" He was cut off when Victor smashed the grave open. The pulled the coffin open. Too bad 200 year of rotting wood doesn't hold up well. The corpse fell out at their feet.

"Careful no one steps in him." Powell said, half serious.

"Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley asked.

"I'm good really."

"Alright, McGregor, Victor, you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me… Well, use your imagination."

Anne turned to glare as him as people filed in.

"What happened to the Ian I knew?" she asked softly after Riley went into the tunnel.

"Nothing. This is who I am. You used to like it."

"If I had known, I never would have looked your way Ian." She said, coldly, crawling into the tunnel.

Up ahead, she saw Ben and Abigail kissing.

"Finally!" she said.

"Why does that never happen to me?" Powell muttered.

"What's this?" Ian asked pointing out a wooden structure.

"It's a chandelier." Ben said. "Here." With Riley's help, he lit it and swung it out to the middle of the room.

"Wow…" Anne breathed.

"Look at the elevators." Ben motioned to them.

"How did a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?" Shaw asked.

"The same way they built the pyramids, and the Great Wall of China." Ben said.

"Yeah," Riley nodded. "The aliens helped them."

"Yeah cause that's totally logical."

"Alright. What are we waiting for?" Ian asked.

"I'm not going out on that thing." Patrick Gates protested. "200 years of termite damage and rot."

"Dad, do what he says." Ben said sternly.

"Watch your step." he warned, although everyone already was. A loud rumbled rattled the structure.

"Subway." Anne said.

Suddenly there was a scream as Shaw plummeted into the darkness below. The entire structure began to fall apart beneath them. Riley grabbed onto Anne hand.

"We jump on three. One, two," Riley began.

"THREE!" Anne shouted as the boards gave way.

They landed on the platform with a thud.

"You okay?"

"Uh-huh but… Where's Ben?" Anne shouted to her father. Her pointed and she saw Ben holding onto Abigail, the Declaration sliding away.

"Do you trust me?" Ben asked.

"Yes." She said.

Ben dropped Abigail, who landed on the walkway below. Anne closed her eyes tight, silently praying.

"Anne." Riley said. "He's okay." Looking up she smiled.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I dropped you. I had to save the Declaration." Ben explained.

"No, don't be. I would have done exactly the same thing to you." Abigail said.

"Really?" Ben asked.

"I would've dropped you both. Freaks." Riley called.

Anne laughed and ran over to Ben, hugging him tight.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, Benny."

"I won't. I promise." He said. "Ian, it's not worth it." Ben shouted.

"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's?" Ian asked. "We go on."

"The status quo. Keep the status quo." Their father said, ushering them onto the elevator.

"This is it." Anne whispered. They went into the room.

Empty.

"So, where is the treasure?" Powell asked.

"Well?" Ian urged.

"This is it? We came all this way for a dead end?" Riley asked incredulously.

"Yes." Ben said, defeated.

"There has got to be something more." Riley said.

"No, there are no more clues! That's it! It's over! End of the road! The treasure's gone, moved, taken somewhere else." Ben yelled.

"You're not playing games with me Ben? You know where it is?" Ian asked.

"No." Ben replied.

"OK. Go." Shipped began to raise the elevator.

"Wait a minute!" Ben called.

"Wait, Ian, you can't just leave us here." Anne said.

"Yes I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue."

"There's not another clue." Ben repeated.

"Ian, wait. Listen, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together." Riley suggested. Ian drew his gun and pointed at Riley.

"Don't speak again." Ian warned.

"Ian!" Anne said, stepping up next to Riley.

"You know, I got you something." He said, pulling a box from his back pocket. He flipped open the lid and revealed a glittering diamond ring. Anne was stunned speechless. "You can still have if you want."

"Is that a-" she stopped. No, not again, not this time. "Keep it."

"You'll regret it."

"I don't think I will."

"So, the clue?" Ian reminded Ben, still looking angry from the rejection. "Where's the treasure? Ben?"

"The lantern." Their father began.

"Dad." Ben said.

"The status quo has changed son."

"Don't." Anne protested.

"It's part of freemason teachings." He said. "In King's Solomon's temple, there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue."

"And what does it mean?" Ian insisted.

"Boston." Ben replied. "It's Boston."

"The Old North Church in Boston, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal to Paul Revere that British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern under the winding staircase of the steeple. That's where you have to look." Anne finished.

"Thank you." Ian went to start the elevator again.

"Wait! Aren't you gonna take us with you?" the eldest Gates asked.

"So you can escape in Boston? Besides, with all of you out of the picture, there's less baggage to carry." Ian said.

"What if we lied?" their father asked.

"Did you?" Ian pointed the gun at him.

"What if there's another clue?" Ben asked.

"Then I know right where to find you. See you Ben." The elevator pulled up again.

"No!" Ben shouted.

"There's no other way out!" Riley yelled. "We're all gonna die." He groaned.

"Alright guys, what's going on? The British came by sea with two lanterns. Not one." Abigail stated.

"Ian needed another clue, so we gave it to him."

"It was a fake. It was a fake clue." Riley realized.

"Yeah. So, now what?"

"By the time Ian figures it out, we'll still be trapped down here. And he'll… shoot us then." Riley said. "Either way, we're going to die."

"Nobody's going to die. There's another way out." Anne said.

"Where?" Riley asked.

"Through the treasure room." Ben finished, opening the wall.


	11. Chapter 11

**Part 11**

Anne smiled and led the way in, coughing on the clearing dust. She rubbed her eyes to see…

Nothing.

"What?" she whispered.

"Looks like somebody got here first." Riley said.

"I'm sorry, Ben." Abigail consoled.

"It's gone." He said disappointed.

"Listen, Ben-" Their father began.

"It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates."

"It doesn't matter."

"I know. 'Cause you were right." Ben said looking at his dad.

"No, I wasn't right. This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. You're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for you to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it Ben. For all of us. Your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong." He clapped a hand on his son's shoulder and smiled.

"I just really thought there would be treasure." He said.

"Okay then, we'll keep looking for it."

"I'm in." Abigail said. Anne stood in front of her brother and smiled.

"Templar Knights never stop looking."

Ben looked up at her and grinned.

"No we don't." he agreed.

"Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gonna happen. Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here." Riley said.

"Way to be optimistic Riley." Anne snarked.

"Well, that's it. It doesn't make any sense, the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was to cut a secondary shaft back out for air..." Mr. Gates began.

"...and in case of cave-ins." Ben finished.

Anne ran the light along the wall, looking for anything useful.

"Ben. Take a look at this."

He leaned over the markings. Pulling out the pipe he looked at it.

"Could it really be that simple?"

Placing the pipe in the slot, he turned it round. The wall fell inward. No one spoke as they entered the treasure room. Riley looked up at a statue with reverence.

"It's a big bluish-green man… with a strange looking goatee…I'm guessing that's significant." He hugged the statue.

Anne laughed, looking in a trunk. It was filled with dresses from all different cultures and times. She held up an Egyptian gown with slits running up and down the sides.

"Forget the blue man. I like what you found better." Riley said.

"Oh really? I might keep this one then." She said cocking an eyebrow. She put the gown back and walked over to where Ben was standing, watching the fire spread out around the room.

"Wow…" Anne said, grabbing blinding for Ben's hand. "We did it!" she cried, ecstatic.

"Are you crying, Riley?" Abigail asked.

"Look… stairs."

* * *

"Just like that?" Agent Sadusky asked as Ben handed him the Declaration.

"Just like that." Ben affirmed.

"You don't get the concept of a bargaining chip do you?"

"The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip. Not to us." Ben said.

"Have a seat. You must be the youngest Gates. Explains why we couldn't find you."

"What can I say? It runs in the family."

"So, what's your offer?" Sadusky asked Ben.

"How about a bribe? Say, about 10 billion dollars?"

"I take it you found the treasure?"

"It's about 5 stories below your shoes."

"You know the Templars and the Free Masons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden." Sadusky said, looking down at his ring. Anne grinned at the fellow knight.

"That's right."

"Okay, here's what I want," Ben began. "Dr. Chase gets off completely clean, not even a little post-it on her service record."

"Okay."

"I want the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole." He said, looking over at

"And what about you?" Sadusky asked.

"I really would love not to go to prison. I can't even begin to describe how much I would love to not go to prison."

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." Sadusky said smiling.

"Well, if you've got a helicopter, I think I help with that." Anne replied smirking.

* * *

Anne leaned against the building, watching Ian get arrested. He looked up and met her eyes angry. She just smirked.


	12. Chapter 12

**Part 12**

3 Months Later

The youngest Gates lounged on the blanket in her brother's garden, completely at ease. Her boyfriend lay next to her staring down at her.

"What are you looking at?"

"The prettiest thing I've ever seen."

"You're such a geek sometimes."

"But I'm your geek." He reminded her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"Ahem!" they heard. Anne leaned up on her elbows and grinned at her brother and his girlfriend.

"Every time Ben." Riley sighed.

"Yeah. My house. Deal with it."

"Mhmm." Anne said, kissing Riley again.

"Ow!" Riley said. Ben whistled nonchalantly but Abigail was pointing at him.

"What? The acorn just fell from the tree I swear!"

"Whatever Ben." Anne said as Riley's cell rang.

"Hello? Hey, man. Yeah sure. See you then." He put the phone in his pocket and stood, helping Anne up. "They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit. They're sending a private jet."

"Cool." Anne said.

"Yeah, big whoop. Could've had a whole fleet of private jets. Ten percent, Ben. They offered you ten percent and you turned them done."

"Riley, we've been over this. It was too much, I couldn't except it." Ben said.

"I'm cool with it." Anne piped up.

"Yeah cause you got to keep those dresses. Not that I'm complaining about _that_." He grinned at her. "But I actually have this splinter that's been festering for 3 months from an old piece of wood." Riley pointed to his finger seriously.

"I tried to get him to go to the doctor but he won't listen."

"I'll tell you what. The next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you make the call on finder's fee." Ben said.

"That's funny. What do you care? You got Abi."

"And you got my sister." Ben said smiling.

"That's true." He said kissing her. "Ow! Ok where's your excuse for _that_ acorn?!"

"Actually it was a pebble."

"Fine. Enjoy your spoils." Riley said, jumping into his new Ferrari. "While I sit on one percent. One stinking percent. Half of one percent, actually. One percent."

"I'm sorry for your suffering." Ben laughed.

"For the record, Ben, I like the house." Riley complimented, opening the passenger's door for Anne.

"You know, I chose this estate because in 1812, Charles Carroll met-" Ben began.

"Yeah, someone who did something in history and had fun. Great, wonderful." Riley put on his sunglasses. "Could've had a bigger house." He called peeling out of the driveway.

"So where to now?" Riley asked

"Well… I know were we can get some great cherry pie…"

**The End**


End file.
